重庆至西欧12天

China to increase preschool funding

State Councilor Liu Yandong announced that China will increase the funding of private kindergartens and unify the fees between public and private kindergartens, the Beijing Times reports. In some areas, the lack of kindergartens or qualified teachers has caused a bottleneck in local preschool education. Kindergartens are also under fire for teaching material that some feel is too "advanced" for the students.

Police release man accused of libel

Wuzhong police, in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, have redressed a mishandled case and released Wang Peng, who has been detained from Gansu on defamation charges since Nov. 23, Xinhua reports. Wang reported to administrative departments and posted online allegations that his college roommate, whose parents are Ningxia Hui officials, suspiciously became a civil servant without difficulty, despite doing poorly on college exams. Wuzhong police officials say people, including Wang, have the right to report fraud to maintain justice and are investigating his case further. The head of Litong District's public security bureau, He Zexiang, and its political commissar, Wang Hongdong, have been removed from their posts.

Local market gloomy amid Korea tensions

Traders in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, claim that the recent tensions on the Korean Peninsula have shrunk "remarkably the transaction volume of their famous miscellaneous goods, Qianjiang Evening News reports. They say their customers in North and South Korea have started to arrear payments. The tensions have also caused the South Korean won to depreciate drastically against the US dollar, casting one more chill to businessmen who trade in dollars.

Cooking oil price to remain stable

Leading producers of cooking oil will not raise product prices over the next four months leading up to the annual congressional sessions next March, Xi'an Evening News reports. As part of the recent macroeconomic-adjustment policy, China has made every effort in combating commodity price increases, and oil producers have been told to keep prices stable until then.

Railway connects China, Europe

A railway that connects Chongqing and major cities in Europe will begin operations this month, Chongqing Evening News reports. Freight trains will take 12 days to travel between the southwestern Chinese municipality and cities such as Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and Duisburg, Germany, saving shipping time and costs over sea.